He was granted 400 acres of land in the County of Anson on the north side of the south fork of the Catawha River, on September 29, 1750.

He served as Constable in Rowan County, North Carolina, for a period beginning in April 1753.

He operated a lodging house and livery stable, and owned a farm in Tyron/Rutherford County, North Carolina, until sometime between 1773 and 1777.

Rachel and Preston lost two sons at the Battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 1780; Preston Goforth, Jr., fighting on the Revolutionary Patriot's side and John Preston Goforth on the Tory side. A legend perpetuated by Lyman Draper (King's Mountain and Its Heroes, Lyman C. Draper, Baltimore 1967, pp. 314-15) says that the brothers knowingly killed each other, each for his own political ideology.

Preston and Rachel had 5 children:

1. Andrew Goforth6 , b. 1737; m. Nancy Elizabeth Gullick --- lived near King's Mountain in Rutherford County, North Carolina (Rutherford was much more extensive then than now).2. Preston Goforth, Jr.6, b. 1739 in North Carolina; m. 1760 Nancy Elizabeth Potts, b. 1744, d. 1836, lived two miles west of King's Mountain; Preston, Jr. died October 7, 1780 at King's Mountain; mentioned by DAR monument to King's Mountain heroes.3. William Goforth6 , b. 1741; d. 1830; m. June 1, 1774 RebeccaRoberts, b. 1747, d. 1838; William entered land September 8, 1780 in Jefferson County, Tennessee (N. C. Land Grants in Tennessee and Ray, op. cit.); he also owned land near George Doherty who married William's sister, Prisilla.4. John Preston Goforth6, b. 1750, married 1777 Sarah Clements, b. March 24, 1759, d. August 13, 1842. John Preston Goforth6 was killed at King's Mountain, a member of the Tory forces.5. Prisilla Goforth6, b. C. 1748?; d. prior to 1823; m. prior to 1773, probably in Mecklenburg County, N. C. to George Doherty, b. 1749.